Toon Zone Talkback - "Lilo & Stitch": New Wave Disney

[Speedy Boris]

This is the talkback thread for "Lilo & Stitch": New Wave Disney.


Oddly enough, I STILL haven't seen this movie.

[EHH123]

Everyone loves to talk about how different "Lilo and Stitch" is from other Disney films. While this is true on some levels, it is still at its base a Disney film. Now I am not saying this as a bad thing at all. I love the fact that they made a Disney animated movie that has such a unique premise, yet it can belong with the other classics. (Yes, I know the trailers made fun of them a little bit)
Here are the elements that I can think off the top of my head:

• The characters are at their lowest point before the finale
• Missing parents (in the broadest term)
• It has good sad moments.
• It has good heartwarming moments.

Would anyone else like to contribute?

[JerryvonKramer]

You could have read my review and posted in that thread y'know!

I'll quote the relevant paragraph of it here:

As I have suggested, the other big draw in Lilo & Stitch is its surprising and relentless deviation from (and outright subversion of) customary generic narrative norm. It is not merely a radical departure from the standard Disney formulae; it is an attempt, as Mark Kermode might say, 'to rewrite the rules of filmic grammar'. There are a few recurring motifs in this film that serve as basic emotional and narrative markers, such as the image of ugly duckling, lost and alone and in seach of his family, and the Hawaiian concept of 'ohana, which, as Lilo's father had explained to her, 'means family, and family means nobody gets left behind. Or forgotten'. But things do not pan out as one might expect. Stitch is not a loveable alien a la E.T.: he's an absolute nightmare to have around and (not to give too much plot away) he almost ruins the lives of Nani and Lilo. The cast of characters from Stitch's home planet, who seem to be set up as the villains of the piece from the start of the film, do not necessarily end the film in that light. For perhaps the first time, Disney forgoes fantasy depictions of black and white and good and evil, and settles for 'shades of gray'. It's one of very few family films where you honestly couldn't say at any moment where it is going to come next: it is refreshingly unpredictable. And I've not even mentioned the lush backgrounds, exquisite animation, and have barely mentioned the classic Elvis soundtrack. But trust me, it's all good. Lilo & Stitch is a bold, touching and mature work If you don't own it already then this is a great opportunity to pick it up.

So yeah, while it does have a few standard emotional tropes in it as you say, I'd argue that it does so much different from the normal Disney template that its reputation as being unique is fully justified.

And yeah, I'd count it among the classics.

[NewcomerDC]

Originally Posted by Speedy Boris

Oddly enough, I STILL haven't seen this movie.

Really? man, this film is a bit old. By 2012, we'll be celebrating it's 10th anniversary.

The film was and still is pretty good even if the 2-disc cover art is a bit lame. I hope to get it soon and replace the one-disc I'cve held since Christmas 2002.

Anyone wants my old copy? j/k

[Lavenderpaw]

Lilo and Stitch will always be one of my favorite movies. It's not a musical or fairy tale story rather it has some realistic protrayals of a sister struggling to support her young sister after a terrible tradegy. The little blue alien adds a nice touch of course.

[Marinite]

I prefer Lilo & Stitch to almost every Disney movie before it. I find Little Mermaid, Cinderella, and Beauty and the beast to just be.. bland, and boring. The only one I really liked prior was Lion King. Mulan and Aladdin were okay too. I think the main difference is a more 'modern' feel to it. People didn't burst randomly into song like previous Disney movies.

[Ed Liu]

I liked this movie when we saw it in the theaters, but I think it's grown on me more and more over the years. It's definitely one of the best modern-era Disney movies, and its many quirky successes are the major reason why I was curious to see what Chris Sanders would have been able to do with American Dog.

One of my favorite throwaway moments in the movie was at the start, when Lilo goes into the big, long explanation about why she needed to feed her fish friend a sandwich, and when the teacher asks, "Why did you need to feed the fish?" and she responds without hesitation, "Because he controls the weather." It's one of those leaps of child logic that just really rang true to me. It was also something that quickly demonstrated what a quirky and atypical child Lilo was. On top of that, I also like that Lilo is not an adult in a tiny body, and she is not what an adult thinks a child is. She's really a child. She thinks and acts like a child.

One of my other favorite little throwaway bits was when Nani threatens Stitch with a 2x4 and says, "I know you can talk!", and then belts him with it anyway when he actually does.

It's all the little things like that which add up to make the movie more than it would seem, I think. The movie is just chock full of them.